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{
    "id": 947138,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/947138/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 362,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mumias East, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Benjamin Washiali",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 151,
        "legal_name": "Benjamin Jomo Washiali",
        "slug": "benjamin-washiali"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion as moved by the Chair and seconded by the Vice-Chair of the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. I will start by admitting that I am a ranking Member of this Committee. This is the only Departmental Committee I appear in, other than the other position in the House. First, may I inform Members that this is a very special Petition. As you know, many petitions are never debated in this House, according to our Standing Orders. However, because this is a Petition that is for degazettement of a forest reserve area, it was prudent. I thank you for allowing us to debate this Petition because it is important that the House gives its opinion on degazettement of the forest area. There is another reason why this Petition is important. This is my 13th year in this House. It is very rare to find a Cabinet Sitting to bring a Petition to this House. This is one of the rare Petitions that we have received from the Cabinet in terms of wishing that there will be a correction to a forest reserve. You should know that it is the same Government that is struggling to protect Mau and other encroached forest reserve gazetted areas. I want to use very few words to support this Petition. For us to have received a Petition from the Cabinet or Government actually means a lot. For those of us who come from Western, year-in, year-out, we have seen many of our brothers and sisters fight in the mountain. At this time, we have the Ogiek against Chepkitale and the Dorobo against the Sabaots. Some of the reasons for this fighting, other than the issue of land, are that we as politicians have taken advantage of this and incited one community against the other."
}